Connected
by Umine Yumeka
Summary: "What did you wish for?" "I can't tell you." "Can I guess?" "No." A tale of two friends knowing each other too well.
1. Bugs and Music

It's a typical afternoon. Len and I are returning to the classroom after having a lunch break which we spent in the library as usual. Len and I aren't really sociable. We're both introverted dreamers, scientifically known as an INFP, which is why we immediately became friends. We're both loved by teachers because of our good grades. Because of our similarities, I might have even developed a tiny crush on my best friend.

Walking through the door, we're greeted with the odd sight of our classmates looking at the ceiling in fear. Ignoring that, I walk back into my seat and ask my seatmate, Luka, what's going on. She replies,"There's a giant bug in the room right now..." Her voice was barely above a whisper. 'A bug?' I thought, 'that's not that big of a deal...' "So where is it now?" I ask her. "On the ceiling fan..." still as quiet as she was before. I look and squint my eyes to get a better view. There's a black dot, barely larger than a 500 yen coin.

"What are you guys afraid of it's just a bug!" Miss Lily's sighs exasperatedly. It was clear she was annoyed with the class full of a scaredy cats. "Because we've never seen it before!" Longya yells from the back. "Seriously? Even the boys are afraid?!"

The bug seems to be able to understand us, for not a second after the thought passed my mind, it took flight once again.

"Ahhhhh!" scream from both male and female resound in the classroom. The black bug flies towards the window and turns around after realising that there was no escape. It lands on the backboard, within hitting range.

Kaito, who was sitting behind me, immediately says, "Gah! Why is it so close to me?!" Mr Lily says, "Kaito, just go kill it!" It was clear she was 100% done with the nonsense. He hesitantly stands up, holding a book, looking ready to smack it. Instead, he swings it back and forth, trying to scare it away. It was deemed useless as it stayed put. I noticed Miss Lilly facepalm and decide the entire situation is too stupid and I deal with it myself.

Standing up, a grab Kaito's book and he immediately steps back. I smack the bug as hard as I can, making a loud noise, killing it instantly. "Good job, Rin," Miss Lily says, "That's finally over..." I drop a book on Kaito's desk, and walk straight back into my seat. Immediately, I'm showered by praises.

"That was so brave of you!" Miku says.

"Remind me to not make her mad..." Aoki mumbles.

"You're braver than half of the boys!" Rion says.

"It's just a bug..." I mumble to myself. I turn around to question Kaito, "What's there to be afraid of? It's just a bug." I notice my voice quivering. I'm not brave at all. My entire body is shaking. My mind isn't afraid, but my body shoes symptoms of fear. I'm a coward.

Kaito whimpers a bit, and replies, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I'm afraid of bugs. You can't blame me!" I sweatdrop. Typical Kaito.

"Alright, simmer down. Now, get ready for the next lesson," Miss Lily commands. I pull out my music textbook and get ready to head to the music room. I notice a piercing gaze, and I turn to find the origin. I lock my eyes with Len and tilt my head, asking him what's wrong. He shakes his head as if to say nothing. Weird.

"There is a Chinese tale about friendship and music, the tale of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi. Boya was a qin player and Ziqi was a woodsman. One rainy day, Boya was trying to mimick the sound of the falling rain. Ziqi, who happened to be nearby, nodded his head contently, and said that it sounded like the rain. Boya was surprised and tried to play the sound of the rapid river. Ziqi once again, guessed it. No matter what Boys played, Ziqi was able to guess what he intended to play." Mr. Hiyama says.

It's the music lesson and Len is right next to me taking notes. The story has always intrigued me, how a person could understand another without saying a single word. How deep of a connection do they need to achieve that?

"However, Ziqi died after some time. Boya was devastated and went in front of his grave to played a sad tune. Afterwards, he smashed his qin to pieces and swore to never play again. For it was pointless without his zhiyin, meaning a close and sympathetic friend." He finished the story. The class was murmuring about the story. "Now, can anyone tell on me what made smashing the qin so important?"

Silence.

Two hands were raised. Left and right. "Thank you, Len," Mr. Hiyama says. I put my hand down as Len stands up, "The Chinese have six arts. Once mastered, one would be considered a perfect gentleman. They include, rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics. In music, the qin is the most significant instrument,"

"Correct, good job Len," He mods and sits back down. I give him a thumbs up and he gives a gentle smile. We stare into each other's eyes for what seems like hours. Those crystal winter blue eyes never cease to mesmerize me.

"What is the name of the song that he plays in the story?" Mr Hiyama's voice pulls me back into reality. Two hand were raised once again. "Rin, thank you" I stand up and answer, "Gaoshan Liushui, directly translating intohigh mountains and flowing water."

"Spot on. You two are really informed on the subject." Mr. Hiyama compliments us. We share a smile.

"Don't you think it's cool how Ziqi could understand Boya immediately?" I ask Len. It's after school now, and we're walking home together. We live right next to each other, so we often go to places together. "I suppose. It should be impossible to understand someone before even meeting them," He replies with speculating tone.

"That's what makes it so special! I wish there was someone who can understand me like that..." I mumble the last part to myself. "I could do that if you want me to," I hear Len say. I freeze in my steps. "What do you mean?" he turns around with a boyish grin. "I can guess your thoughts, shall I demonstrate?" I nod my head dumbly, what does he mean?

"Today, when you killed that bug, you were afraid" My eyes widen, "H-how did yo-" "Your body was shaking. It wasn't obvious, but it definitely was. Your voice was quivering. You were also biting your lip. You do that when your scared" My mind goes blank. "What was I thinking about during the music lesson then?" I ask shakily. There's no way he knows, right?

"Are you sure you want me to answer that?". His eyes has a devious glean. He knows. He most definitely knows. "No thank you." I reply all too quickly. I should pay more attention to his actions as well.


	2. Memories and Fluffiness

I sigh as I look into the mirror. It's the last day of the school year. And to be honest, I don't want to leave. I love my class, I love this year's teachers, Miss Lily, Mr Hiyama... And this year's group of friends was more than I could ask for! We have Len, who can read me like a book. IA, who's mischievous and tomboyish. Boys literally run when they get her mad, we have a saying of her special attack too. Miku who is the artistic fangirl that seems like a cold-hearted princess, but is actually a somewhat crazy person. Rion, who's the youngest and silliest one. According to her, the Revolutionary Wars broke out during the reign of Terror (I was asking her about Napoleon...). Aoki is the perverted one who keeps cracking lame puns. We had so many projects together, and I'm afraid to think we might not be able to do so next year. It feels like I wasted a ton of time lazing around and doing nothing productive. I don't want to leave at all.

I walk downstairs and grab an orange to eat in the way. "I'm leaving!" "Be safe!" My mom yells from the kitchen.

Rushing next door, I wait for Len to come out. My mind starts to drift as I think of the girls.

 _"Miku, do you have the drawings ready?" I asked her. It was in the beginning of the school year. Each year, our school would have a backboard decorating competition. We let the boys, aka, Kaito, Gakupo and Oliver, do the background color, a pastel yellow. That turned out horrendous. I don't know what's wrong with them, and I'm starting to think they deserved that E in visual arts. Miss Lily was speechless at their work, and Miku and IA decided to volunteer and help. Although I don't have high artistic skills, I wanted to help out, so I volunteered, along with Len and Rion. We both wanted to contribute to the class, even in the slightest way. Miku and IA painted binoculars and the earth, while the rest worked with the base color and cut out pictures. We grew really close to each other after that. "Yup!" She answered brightly. She handed a 9 inch tall piece of paper with a beautifully drawn pair of binoculars and another 12 inch diameter one with the earth on it. "These are perfect! You're amazing!" Rion says from behind, startling me in the process. Miku shows a bashful smile, "I'm not that good at drawing..." She mumbles. I gently place a hand on her shoulder, "You are! Your pictures are so pretty! They look way better than mine! Just ask Len." She turns her head to see Len nodding as he chuckles. She finally accepts our comments, and says a quiet 'Thank you.'_

"Rin... Hello!" I snap out of my thoughts to see Len's face inches away from mine. I felt a heat rush to my cheeks and I stumbled backwards. "Good morning Len!" I exclaim gather my thoughts. "Morning Rin," He replies. "Whatcha thinking about?" He asks.

I raise an eyebrow as I start walking towards school, "Shouldn't you know?" I ask him. Ever since he first guessed my feelings, he's been getting even better at it. Now, he doesn't even need to look at me to guess.

"Hmm, let's see..." He closes his eyes in thought, holding my hand and following my lead. "You're happy to walk to school with me right now." "Yeah? What else?" Because it was clear he knew my feelings for him, I didn't bother to be embarrassed anymore. "But you're also sad..." He opens his eyes in confusion. "Is it because it's the last day?"

I sigh, "I can never keep anything hidden from you, Len." He smiles in victory. "So it's true then?" I nod my head. "I don't want our class to go. We've been through so much together, and the teachers were super nice this year. What if all of us end up in a different class?" I murmur. "I don't either. All we can do now is treasure this day, alright?" He tells me with eyes that can light up dark night skies. I see a hint of sadness in them.

"Thanks, Len" I hug Len, seeking comfort. He plants a gentle kiss on my forehead. "You know you should also be more honest with me." I whisper in his chest. He pulls away much to my dismay, and smiles, "You're starting to read me too, huh?" I nod excitedly, and snuggle my head in his chest. He chuckles and hugs me in response.

"Remember the time when we grouped together in Liberal Studies?" I ask him as we walk towards the bustop. Going to our school takes a 15-minute-drive. Since IA and Aoki live a bustop away, we try to take the same bus. Len chuckles at the memory and replies, "Of course I do, you threatened the teacher with scissors to let us all be in the same group," I smile sheepishly. Our teacher was the type to make fun of students. I ,for one, couldn't stand his teasing because he commented on my appearance, and ran out with scissors pointing towards his neck. IA stopped me before I could do anything though. I threatened to cut him if he didn't permit our group and a few other friends. "Hey, he let us be in the group, so that's all that matters!" I laugh. "Alice voluntarily did all the work for us too, so we spent the entire lesson joking around," he sighs contently. "Uh huh, that was really fun!"

"And the time we won the fashion show?" I ask as I remember one of the happiest moment in the year. The topic was the four seasons, and we chose spring. We had to make them out of recyclable materials. There were multiple groups who chose spring, and there was this really pretty winter one that was glittery and dream-like. They used non-recyclable materials, but it was too pretty. Ours was 90% made out of waste materials, and, since Len and I speak English naturally, our presentation and message was good. "Of course I do. The teacher said there was one group who focused on environmental protection throughout the entire presentation. You immediately reacted and said" he feigned an overly exaggerated girly voice, "That may be us! I'm not sure, and it may not be but it ma-" I covered his mouth to prevent my embarrassing past actions.

And here's where the unexpected happens, I felt a warm, slippery feeling on my fingers and I immediately drew my hand back, my face as red as a tomato. "That's gross!" I yelled as I took a napkin from my skirt and tried to clean it. He laughed like a child. "You were so happy when we won, Rin." He grinned deviously. "You hugged me so tightly, too" I felt a blush rush to my cheeks once again. I tried to cover my blush with my hand, but instead, I smelled Len's saliva on my fingers. I felt so red that I could faint. "You're so cute, Rin"

Is it wrong to love the way he says my name? I'm such a lovesick puppy dog. Not knowing how to reply to Len's comment, I change the topic, "R-remember when we perform i-in the talent show?"

He smiles knowingly, and answers, "How could I forget? We sang a duet together on stage, and we won..."

We continue to walk as we reminisce on the events that brought us together in the past few year.

We're on the bus now, and the three of us are talking about random topics. "I forgot to ask you this yesterday, but how did you do in the math exam?" For me, I was afraid if I was gonna pass. Math is one of my worst subjects and I also kinda don't want to spend time on it. Honestly, the only time I'll ever use sin cos tan is either when I'm speculating about games scientifically (*cough*game theory*cough*) or when I'm teaching my children how to do them.

IA stares at me blankly for a second, and sang, "Shiranai, shiranai, boku wa nani mo shiranai..." Instantly understanding what she meant, Len and I burst out laughing. Aoki looked at us confused, "Sista, what does she mean?" We call each other sistas, including Len. "Don't you ever listen to Aria's songs?" Len asks her. She smiles sheepishly as she shakes her head. "She has a very famous song of the climax being," Len points towards me, "Shiranai, shiranai, boku wa nani mo shiranai" I sing a fast version. "which means I don't know, I don't know, I don't know anything." He explains. Aoki nods her head in understanding. "You guys can read minds?" We both smile and nod. The pink-haired girl and blue-haired girl look at each other as a mischievous smile crawl into their faces. "You two are perfect together!" I blush as Len shows hint of a smirk. He's gonna say something embarrassing, I know it. It's almost as if he enjoys my embarrassment.

"I know."

 ** _This fic has one more chapter to go. Unless I want to add more stuff that is. It's probrably gonna come real soon cuz IA and Miku want to see more of it really soon._** ** _I dedicate this fic to my class, but mostoy towards the IA, Miku, Rion, Luka and Aoki irl. They are the greatest people ever, and this chapter is entirelt about our time together._** ** _Teenagers in Love will receive some changes in characters, cuz I wanna add my besties everywhere._** ** _The cover is drawn by IA, she has an Instagram account called flipflog_. She doesn't do digital images so I'm learning to paint on my phone. I'll post on the pictures she drew on my tumblr, umineyumeka. See ya soon._**


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